Windows 7: Enable Administrator Account without Windows access
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Description:
Enabling the Built-in Administrator Account without Windows Access:
In some scenarios, you might want to know how to enable the Administrator account without Windows access. For example, let's say you recently changed your administrator password and now you don't remember it.
How do you change this administrator's password when there are no other administrators and only administrators can reset another user's password? Another scenario could be if you accidentally removed your user from the Administrators group and now only standard users exist. How do you perform administrator tasks?
This tip will show you how to enable the built-in Administrator account without having access to Windows and reset your password or designate another administrator.
1.) Insert your Windows or repair DVD into the DVD drive and restart your computer (If necessary, configure the BIOS to boot from the DVD).
2.) When the message "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD" appears, press a key.
3.) In the first window, you will be asked to configure your local settings. Configure as you see fit and click Next.
4.) When the next window, Install Windows, appears, press SHIFT + F10 to open a command prompt.
5.) In the command prompt, type: regedit + ENTER to open the Windows Registry Editor.
6.) Select the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key, open the File menu and click on the option: Load Hive.
7.) In the window that opens, try to find the partition where your Windows is installed (be careful, it's not always C:; look for a partition that has the Windows folder. If you have more than one Windows installed, be extra careful to find the correct folder).
8.) Open the following folders on your Windows partition:
Windows\System32\config, select the SAM file and click open. In "Key Name," choose a name for the key (in this example, I will use temp) and click OK.
Now open the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\temp\SAM\Domains\Account\Users\000001F4
Double-click on the value F to edit it, locate the line that starts with 0038 and change the value 11 to 10 and click OK.
9.) Select the temp key again, open the File menu, click on Unload Hive and then OK to confirm.
10.) Now close all open windows and restart your computer. When you reach the login screen, click on the Administrator account.
11.) Once logged in as administrator, open the Control Panel and go to: User Accounts and Family Safety \ User Accounts, Manage another account. From here you will be able to make all the necessary changes to reset your administrator password(s), create another administrator account(s), or make a standard account the administrator account.
For those whose built-in Windows Administrator account also has a password (that they don't remember), follow these additional steps below after step 9:
9b.) Within the Registry Editor, select the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key again, open the File menu, click Load Hive, open your Windows partition and open: Windows\System32\config, click on the System file and then on the Open button.
9c.) In Key Name, choose a name for the key (in this example I will use temp2) and click OK.
9d.) Open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\temp2\Setup key and set the SetupType (DWORD) value data to 2 and CMDLine to cmd.exe.
9e.) Select the temp2 key, open the File menu, click Unload Hive, click Yes to confirm, close all windows and restart the computer.
9f.) Before the login screen appears, a message will appear on the screen: "The installation is preparing your computer for first use" and a command prompt will appear.
9g.) Within the command prompt, type the following command:
net user Administrator 123 + ENTER (replace 123 with the password you want to use for the Administrator account)
Now you will be able to log in as Administrator and proceed from step 11.